Rank the 200 club

[mikeyg123]

Not as exclusive as it once was but joining the 200 club is still an achievement. With Rosberg being the latest inductee in Singapore I thought it would be interesting to see how people rank the 16 drivers who have achieved 200 grand prix.

My list.

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Jenson Button
6. Rubens Barrichello
7. Nico Rosberg
8. David Coulthard
9. Gerhard Berger
10. Mark Webber
11. Jean Alesi
12. Felipe Massa
13. Giancarlo Fissichella
14. Riccardo Patrese
15. Jarno Trulli
16. Andrea De Cesaris

[Alex53]

When I see lists like this, to this day, I can't believe Jean Alesi retired with one win. He had so much talent.

[mds]

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Nico Rosberg
6. Jenson Button
7. Jean Alesi
8. Mark Webber
9. Felipe Massa
10. David Coulthard
11. Giancarlo Fisichella
12. Rubens Barrichello
13. Jarno Trulli
14. Gerhard Berger
15. Riccardo Patrese
16. Andrea De Cesaris

Mind you this is from the top of my head, how they stack up in my mind. I haven't looked at stats nor results for each driver.
As a result I don't feel too confident about Fisichella and Trulli.

[Zoue]

Good thread!

My list:

• 1. Schumacher
  2. Piquet
  3. Alonso
  4. Raikkonen
  5. Button
  6. Massa
  7. Coulthard
  8. Barichello
  9. Webber
  10. Rosberg
  10. Alesi
  12. Berger
  13. Patrese
  14. De Cesatis
  15. Trulli
  16. Fisichella

[olly-44]

My list.

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Jenson Button
6. Nico Rosberg
7. Rubens Barrichello
8. David Coulthard
9. Gerhard Berger
10. Mark Webber
11. Felipe Massa
12. Jean Alesi
13. Giancarlo Fisichella
14. Riccardo Patrese
15. Jarno Trulli
16. Andrea De Cesaris

[Amon]

Nice idea!

1. Schumacher
2. Alonso
3. Piquet
4. Button
5. Raikkonen
6. Rosberg
7. Berger
8. Barrichello
9. Webber
10. Alesi
11. Coulthard
12. Massa
13. Fisichella
14. Patrese
15. De Cesaris
16. Trulli

[Amon]

If Prost drove 1 more race he would be first or second in my list.

[mikeyg123]

Prost and Alboreto could both have been in the 200 club with the amount of race weekends they drove at but failed to start a few.

[Amon]

Prost and Alboreto could both have been in the 200 club with the amount of race weekends they drove at but failed to start a few.

Right Prost lost his job with Ferrari end 1991 being replaced by Morbidelli for the last GP otherwise he would have had exactly 200! I believe he also missed a race or 2 due to injury in 1980. And Alboreto drove a few terrible cars so he couldn't always qualify for the race.

[mikeyg123]

Prost and Alboreto could both have been in the 200 club with the amount of race weekends they drove at but failed to start a few.

Right Prost lost his job with Ferrari end 1991 being replaced by Morbidelli for the last GP otherwise he would have had exactly 200! I believe he also missed a race or 2 due to injury in 1980. And Alboreto drove a few terrible cars so he couldn't always qualify for the race.

Prost also crashed on the formation lap in San Marino 91.

[SnakeSVT2003]

Not as exclusive as it once was but joining the 200 club is still an achievement. With Rosberg being the latest inductee in Singapore I thought it would be interesting to see how people rank the 16 drivers who have achieved 200 grand prix.

My list.

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Jenson Button
6. Rubens Barrichello
7. Nico Rosberg
8. David Coulthard
9. Gerhard Berger
10. Mark Webber
11. Jean Alesi
12. Felipe Massa
13. Giancarlo Fissichella
14. Riccardo Patrese
15. Jarno Trulli
16. Andrea De Cesaris

I'd put Button, Barrichello, Rosberg, Webber, and Massa ahead of Raikkonen, and I'd move Coulthard down a spot. So basically,

4. Barrichello
5. Rosberg
6. Webber
7. Massa
8. Raikkonen
9. Coulthard

I'm good with the rest of the list.

[lamo]

5 completed lists...

Average gap between Alonso and Kimi - 2 places in Alonso's favour
Average gap between Kimi and Massa - 5.6 places in Kimi's favour

Am I the only one to rate Massa and Kimi very similarly and Button ahead of Kimi? Button is ahead of Kimi in 0/5 lists so far.

[mikeyg123]

5 completed lists...

Average gap between Alonso and Kimi - 2 places in Alonso's favour
Average gap between Kimi and Massa - 5.6 places in Kimi's favour

Am I the only one to rate Massa and Kimi very similarly and Button ahead of Kimi? Button is ahead of Kimi in 0/5 lists so far.

It depends what you are ranking on. Ability, greatness of career, impact on the sport etc. Kimi and Massa were close together in 07/08/09 but Kimi had performed far better in his career until then.

You could pose a similar question RE Massa and Fissichella.

Nobody has rated Fissichella ahead of Massa despite it being obvious who was better when they were team mates, but Massa had the better career overall.

[Zoue]

5 completed lists...

Average gap between Alonso and Kimi - 2 places in Alonso's favour
Average gap between Kimi and Massa - 5.6 places in Kimi's favour

Am I the only one to rate Massa and Kimi very similarly and Button ahead of Kimi? Button is ahead of Kimi in 0/5 lists so far.

well, I rated Massa and Kimi very similarly - I only rated Button between them but IMO those three are quite close overall.

Kimi's a difficult one to place. His lows were lower than Button's, but there again his peaks were higher. Button seems to share a trait of being sensitive to car setup.

[Amon]

5 completed lists...

Average gap between Alonso and Kimi - 2 places in Alonso's favour
Average gap between Kimi and Massa - 5.6 places in Kimi's favour

Am I the only one to rate Massa and Kimi very similarly and Button ahead of Kimi? Button is ahead of Kimi in 0/5 lists so far.

Look at my list. I have put Button ahead of Kimi. I think Jenson got more out of the cars he got, Kimi's career was pretty wobbly once he joined Ferrari and he hasn't looked really good vs Massa, Alonso and Vettel. That's not really a good teammate record compared to Button.

[optimisteprime]

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Rubens Barrichello
5. Kimi Raikkonen
6. Mark Webber
7. Jenson Button
8. Felipe Massa
9. Gerhard Berger
10. Jean Alesi
11. Jarno Trulli
12. Giancarlo Fissichella
13. Nico Rosberg
14. David Coulthard
15. Riccardo Patrese
16. Andrea De Cesaris

[KingVoid]

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Nico Rosberg
6. Jenson Button
7. Jean Alesi
8. Felipe Massa
9. Rubens Barrichello
10. David Coulthard
11. Mark Webber
12. Gerhard Berger
13. Jarno Trulli
14. Giancarlo Fisichella
15. Ricardo Patrese
16. Andrea De Cesaris

[KingVoid]

The general consensus is that


1. Schumacher
2. Alonso
3. Piquet

16. De Cesaris


Everything else is negotiable.

[Kev627]

Is there anybody who doesn't think Schumacher is the greatest driver in the 200 club?

[mac_d]

I must say, I was surprised at some of the names not on the list. Seems there are a few drivers I thought were in the 200 club but aren't (noteably Alain Prost, 199 Starts!).

I'd shortlist first saying that:
Schumi, Alonso, Piquet and Kimi (maybe) would make up my tier 1.
Kimi (if not Tier 1), Jenson and Nico (maybe, winning a WDC would cement this place) in tier 2.

So I'd have to say:
Schumi
Alonso
Piquet - Piquet was before my time so I wouldn't be able to fully justify this position beyond reading Wikipedia and watching his races on youtube.
Kimi
Jenson/Nico - Rosberg wins this year, I put him ahead of JB. As it stands, JB ahead.
The Rest

[nixxxon]

I'll be the first one to change 1 and 2

1. Fernando Alonso
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Jenson Button
5. Kimi Raikkonen
6. Rubens Barrichello
7. Mark Webber
8. Giancarlo Fisichella
9. Nico Rosberg
10. Felipe Massa
11. Jarno Trulli
12. Jean Alesi
13. Gerhard Berger
14. David Coulthard
15. Riccardo Patrese
16. Andrea De Cesaris

[Lt. Drebin]

1. Michael Schumacher
...
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nico Rosberg
4. Nelson Piquet
5.-8. Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, David Coulthard
9. Rubens Barrichello
10. Gerhard Berger
11. Riccardo Patrese
12. Mark Webber
13. Jean Alesi
...
14. Giancarlo Fissichella
15. Jarno Trulli
16. Andrea De Cesaris

[Exediron]

Is there anybody who doesn't think Schumacher is the greatest driver in the 200 club?

If Alonso had gone to Red Bull instead of Renault in 2008, I think there would be quite a few.

[F1Oz]

I think Webber was clearly superior to Nico - the latter flattered by having the best car and some luck

[j man]

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Jenson Button
6. Nico Rosberg
7. Rubens Barrichello
8. Giancarlo Fisichella
9. Mark Webber
10. Gerhard Berger
11. Jean Alesi
12. David Coulthard
13. Riccardo Patrese
14. Felipe Massa
15. Jarno Trulli
16. Andrea De Cesaris

Interesting that no one has put Fisichella above Massa. They were team mates once you know...
In all seriousness I thought Fisi was one of the top drivers of his day and his one opportunity in a top car was a not a fair indication of his ability due to the highly Alonso-centric nature of the team.

Similarly I thought Webber was much better than his final few seasons would suggest. Quite aside from the situation within the Red Bull between him and Vettel, he never really seemed to get the hang of the Pirelli tyres.

[SnakeSVT2003]

5 completed lists...

Average gap between Alonso and Kimi - 2 places in Alonso's favour
Average gap between Kimi and Massa - 5.6 places in Kimi's favour

Am I the only one to rate Massa and Kimi very similarly and Button ahead of Kimi? Button is ahead of Kimi in 0/5 lists so far.

I wrote my list wrong.

I did this:

4. Barrichello
5. Rosberg
6. Webber
7. Massa
8. Raikkonen
9. Coulthard

When I meant to do this:
4. Button
5. Barrichello
6. Rosberg
7. Webber
8. Massa
9. Raikkonen
10. Coulthard

So the whole list would be :
1. Schumacher
2. Alonso
3. Piquet
4. Button
5. Barrichello
6. Rosberg
7. Webber
8. Massa
9. Raikkonen
10. Coulthard
11. Berger
12. Alesi
13. Fisichella
14. Patrese
15. Trulli
16. De Cesaris

I must've been feeling lazy that day.

[F1 MERCENARY]

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Nelson Piquet
3. Fernando Alonso
4. Rubens Barrichello
5. Kimi Raikkonen
6. Nico Rosberg
7. Jenson Button
8. Felipe Massa
9. Mark Webber
10. Giancarlo Fisichella
11. David Coulthard
12. Jean Alesi
13. Riccardo Patrese
14. Gerhard Berger
15. Jarno Trulli
16. Andrea De Cesaris

I will say that once he reaches 200 starts, Lewis will be the definitive #2 in this list for me, just a hair off Michael. Piquet Sr. edges Alonso by the slimmest of margins because of the eras he drove in. The freedom the engineers had to devise radical and new systems afforded more than one team top cars so the competition was a bit more fierce than in Alonso's eras, yet Piquet managed to come out WDC 3 times. If Alonso can manage to win another WDC I'd place him and Lewis equal at 2nd all-time in the 200 Club.

[Fiki]

Is there anybody who doesn't think Schumacher is the greatest driver in the 200 club?

Why, of course. Best? Perhaps. Greatest? Impossible.

But to be honest, I find it very hard to rank all the names. I keep wondering how some would have fared had they had the chance to prove themselves with a top team. Something de Cesaris didn't really get to do.

[IDrinkYourMilkshake]

I was a rabid, rabid Schumacher fan when I started watching F1 as a kid. For every race, I was praying fervently for him to win it. He was dominating in 2001, 2002 till 2004, but even that was not enough. When Hakkinen was leading at Spain 2001, I kept praying Schumacher, who was 40 seconds behind, would win. And Hakkinen then retired at the last lap!

I can never remember being that obsessed by a sportsperson, and how strongly I believed him to be the greatest.

Well, this is my list:

1. Fernando Alonso
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Nico Rosberg
5. Jenson Button
6. Rubens Barrichello
7. Mark Webber
8. Kimi Raikkonen
9. Felipe Massa
10. David Coulthard
11. Jarno Trulli
12. Gerhard Berger
13. Jean Alesi
14. Giancarlo Fisichella
15. Riccardo Patrese
16. Andrea De Cesaris

[hittheapex]

Nice idea. Shows how F1 careers became longer thanks to better safety and also more races in each year. No driver on this list started an F1 race before 1977 IIRC. Graham Hill and Jack Brabham were both around for ages and would be well in to the 200 club if they'd done the same number of seasons and debuted 20 years later, but I digress. Now to business.

1. Michael Schumacher
2. Fernando Alonso-It's telling of Alonso's ability that I always deliberate at length whether to put him ahead of Schumacher, but in the end I usually don't.
3. Nelson Piquet
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Nico Rosberg-I think Button is a better driver when it's not dry, but most races are run in the dry and I think Nico is superior in those conditions. Perhaps the equal of Raikkonen, or not far behind.
6. Jenson Button
7. Mark Webber-I had a hard time ranking Webber, Coulthard, Berger and Barrichello. I think you really could make an argument for any order for these four, depending on which seasons you referenced. It's easy to put Button ahead of them, but not by much.
8. David Coulthard
9. Gerhard Berger
10. Rubens Barrichello-Superior wet weather ability puts him ahead of Massa for me.
11. Felipe Massa
12. Riccardo Patrese
13. Jean Alesi-If he had found his moments of brilliant inspiration more consistently, I'd probably have Alesi in the top 10. In my opinion he didn't seem the same driver after he left Ferrari.
14. Giancarlo Fisichella
15. Jarno Trulli
16. Andrea De Cesaris-Still a decent driver, can't get into the 200 club without at least a few people thinking you are good enough, but somebody has to be last in any list.

[ALESI]

When I see lists like this, to this day, I can't believe Jean Alesi retired with one win. He had so much talent.

If nothing else Jean is a textbook example of how signing for the right team at the right moment is more important than how much talent you have.

[POBRatings]

Is there anybody who doesn't think Schumacher is the greatest driver in the 200 club?

If Alonso had gone to Red Bull instead of Renault in 2008, I think there would be quite a few.